Affinity Effect
by Drow79
Summary: We left Earth in the hopes of finding a new home. Now we come back and are shocked at what we find.
1. Timeline

**So this was another idea that I had awhile back but I never really had time to write it until now. If this gets enough support then I'll continue it, also you don't need to have played Civilisation Beyond Earth to read this. However this is a secondary focus compared to my other story but I will try to update when I can if I continue it.**

**I don't own either Mass Effect or Civilisation Beyond Earth they belong to Bioware and Firaxis.**

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**2065 CE: **Nuclear 'dirty bomb' detonation in Chinese industrial city of Chengdu. Causes wide spread damage and massive casualties.

Chinese government blames radical factions linked to the ruling parties in Iran. A longtime rival of regional oil resources and increasingly hostile tensions over control of Afghanistan.

In retaliation Chinese government launches a series of small tactical nuclear strikes on Iran's major cities and industrial centers and a ground invasion of the 'Iranian puppet government' in Afghanistan.

Pakistan due to Alliance with Iran and common interest, mobilize their air force to support Afghani resistance, striking the invading Chinese forces and their supply lines in western China.

China retaliates with further nuclear weapon strikes on Iran and Pakistan, destroying cities and missile silos in the two countries.

**2066 CE: **Having most of their silos destroyed the Pakistani government have no option but to use a hither to unknown ballistic missile submarine on station near the Chinese border after years of worsening tensions. It launches a spectrum of nukes against Chinese airbases and industrial centers.

China responds with a full salvo of nuclear devices against population centers in Pakistan, Afghanistan and North Korea. Seeking to disarm all the nuclear capabilities of its intercontinental neighbors.

The appearance of NATO submarines in Chinese waters finally deters the Chinese government from launching anymore nuclear strikes and halts the nuclear exchange.

**2067 CE: **Due to fallout and damage to government and infrastructure in the Middle East suffers a refugee crisis as millions flee their shattered homelands. This tide of refugees pour into all neighboring regions and the economy of Eastern Europe and Russia stagger under the load. This then begins to fracture the European's own alliance.

Simultaneously the refuges flood to Central and Saharan Africa, destabilizing many of the countries there and triggering a wave of civilian uprisings and military crackdowns as the besieged African governments attempt to maintain control.

**2069 CE: **Eventually a status quo is established involving all global powers and the humanitarian crisis exacts a terrible toll on the world's economy.

**2075 CE: **As years pass on and the Eurasian world struggles to maintain stability it becomes evident that the damage from the nuclear fallout and the war has inundated the planet's atmosphere with greenhouse gases. This accelerates the climate change problem as the polar ice melting increases by an order of magnitude. Within a decade the poles are ice free for half the year causing worldwide sea level change and seas to rise by 20ft or more.

Coastal China, coastal India and the Americas suffer worse as massive population displacement and lose of fertile land deplete their already depressed economy.

**2078 CE: **In a move of desperation that shocks the world the countries of Pakistan and India put aside their centuries of hate and join to become a single country based around a new religious revival combing Hinduism and Islam with a characteristic guru known as Kavitha Thakur leading this new theocratic government. This government becomes known as the Kavithan Protectorate.

Factions unable to put aside their hatred begin bloody uprisings on both sides, trying to destroy this new coalition government but all are put down with brutal efficiency. These events cements the new religion as the dominate one in the country, chasing out any others.

Still reeling from the aftermath of the war, the other world powers do nothing to intervene. In the wake of this war worldwide diplomatic relations deteriorate completely and most western powers wall themselves off by isolationist policies and military deterrents.

**2080 CE: **The world enters an uneasy Cold War and an information dark age with most trade and commerce destroyed as each nation focuses inwards to deal with the numerous internal problems plaguing them.

Notable exceptions of this is Australia whose willingness to deal with its south-east Asian and islander neighbors forge the new Pacific Rim alliance called the Commonwealth of Pacific or Polystralia. This grows in power and influence until it becomes the dominate finical power in the world.

**2081 CE: **Sub-Saharan African nations find common ground in the wake of the refugee crisis forge the first ever African Union which grows in power due to the continent's mineral wealth and insulation from the rising seas. They become the major food producer and exporter in the world.

Russia and the Baltic States collapse under the economic strain and form an entirely new country called the Slavic Federation, run a by militaristic dictatorship.

In response what remains of the EU join together to share resources and form a new government called Franco-Iberia which dedicates itself to preserving the cultures of the world.

**2082 CE: **Due to the destruction caused by the rising sea levels to most of its South American neighbors Brazil invades and conquers the leftovers of the continent, renaming themselves Brasilia.

**2083 CE: **The most wealthy and influential businessmen and women of America come together to fund the American Reclamation Corporation or ARC. Due to the government unable to deal with the numerous internal problems plaguing the nation the ARC becomes the only stability in the country and eventually turns the congress into nothing more than figureheads.

The ARC then proceeds to fund PMCs to capture what is left of central America and buy out most of the government in Canada establishing the ARC as the dominate power in northern America.

**2084 CE: **In response to all these new threats emerging around them China, Mongolia, Japan and what's left of Korea unite to form the Pan-Asian Cooperative or PAC. This becomes known as the industrial powerhouse of the world.

**2400 CE: **It is discovered that the Earth is nearing its Inflection point; a point where there is not enough resources left on the planet to send people into space.

This discovery kicks off a massive space race between the various nations as each begins a project known as the Seeding. With each faction choosing a planet in secret in the hopes that the other nations will not be able to attack them in the long term.

**2412 CE: **In a move that shocks the world the ARC releases classified data on the planets chosen by the PAC, Franco-Iberia, Slavic Federation and Kavitha Protectorate. Increasing tensions between PAC, Slavic and Franks as each discovered they were heading to the same planet, a Terran class world called Kepler. This incident cements the ARC's reputation for espionage and instantly makes other factions wary of the Corporation.

**2424 CE: **The Kavitha Protectorate is the first to complete their Seeding project and with their supposedly still alive leader Kavitha aboard, launch their space craft towards the Atlantean world of Tau Ceti. Not wanting to be left behind the other powers step up their ship production.

**2430 CE: **Disaster strikes in the African Union. Their years of resource supplies as well as the spacecraft itself is destroyed due to sabotage. The Union points its finger at the ARC but is never able to prove their claims. The last hope for the African Union literally goes up in smoke.

**2431 CE: **The PAC, Franco-Iberians and the Slavic Federation are the next to launch their spacecraft as each races the each other to Kepler.

**2435 CE: **Brasilia launches its spacecraft to the Protean world of Eta Vulpecula, much of the annoyance of the ARC and Polystralia who both had that as their target as well but were behind schedule.

Realizing the danger posed to them by a well-established Brasilia once they arrived the ARC and Polystralia began back door dealings and agree to an alliance. Each power begins prioritizing their supplies and staff. Polystralia focuses on trade and infrastructure equipment while the ARC focuses on military and scientific equipment. This alliance is given the codename Supremacy Affinity.

**2440 CE: **Both powers launch at the same time despite numerous attempts by the current Earth bound Brazilian government to intervene and head for Eta Vulpecula.

**55,963 CE: **The Asari develop FTL travel based on the Prothean ruins that were recovered near their homeworld. They then discover a network of relays that allow instant travel between them and dub them Mass Relays. Following this network leads them to a massive space station which they name the Citadel.

**56,023 CE: **The Asari encounter another space faring civilization called the Salarians and open up diplomatic talks.

**0 GS/ 56,043 CE: **The Asari and Salarians create the Citadel Council with the Citadel being the capital of this new government. The Galactic Standard (GS) is made the default calendar.

**500-600 GS/ 56,543-56,643 CE:** The Rachni War occurs forcing the Salarians to uplift the Krogan race to fight in their hostile atmosphere. In gratitude for their service the Krogan are given a new homeworld causing their populations to explode.

**650-750 GS/ 56,693-56,793 CE: **The Krogan Rebellions occur which sees the Turian Hierarchy become the main military force of the Council. In order to quell the exponentially growing Krogan numbers the Salarians create the genophage to reduce the Krogan reproductive rate. The Turians are given a Council seat for their contribution to the war.

**900 GS/ 56,993:** The Morning War occurs which sees the Quarians exiled from their homes and kicked out of the council for AI research.

**1397 GS/57,440 CE: **Kavitha Protectorate, awakened from their suspended animation, arrive on Tau Ceti and are amazed at the abundance of alien lifeforms present, as well as the toxic miasma surrounding the planet. Not wishing to anger the natives they leave them alone and begin studying them.

**1402 GS/57,445 CE: **Upon arriving on Eta Vulpecula the ARC and Polystralia find that Brasilia is currently preoccupied with exterminating the local wildlife. While angry at this loss of valuable research specimens the two powers aren't able to stop this and instead use it to buy them time for when Brasilia turns its attention to them.

**1407 GS/57,450 CE: **PAC, Franco-Iberia and Slavic Federation all arrive at Kepler and quickly begin establishing their territories and start isolationist polices anew.

PAC and Slavic Federation rapidly expand towards each other's territories and begin a military buildup, meanwhile Franco-Iberia maintains a small territory and focuses on researching new technologies after the discovery of a new resource they call Floatstone.

**1409 GS/57,452 CE: **Kavitha Protectorate begins taming the local wildlife and experimenting in genetic splicing when they discover that the entire planet has a conscious. Research is immediately conducted to find out more and creates a movement throughout the nation called the Harmony Affinity.

**1412 GS/57,455 CE: **The ARC and Polynesia begin experimenting into AI research, robotics and cybernetic implants to try and combat the growing military threat of Brasilia. During this time they discover a powerful resource named Firaxite, work immediately begins on how to weaponize this resource.

**1417 GS/57,460 CE: **After years of tension PAC and Slavic Federation finally go to war after a nuclear 'dirty bomb' detonation occurs in the PAC capital of Tiangong. The Slavic Federation denied culpability and refused to pay reparations leading to the two powers to declare war. Franco-Iberia decides to remain neutral in this conflict.

While the PAC and Slavic Federation fight, a growing movement begins occurring in Franco-Iberia, this movement is known as the Purity Affinity. The Purity movement believes that humans are sacred and that their past should never be forgotten. This leads to a near cult-like worship of anything to do with 'Old Earth.' While both PAC and Slavic Federation notice this they do not consider it any real concern compared to the war currently being fought.

**1427 GS/57,470 CE: **Kavitha Protectorate find a new type of metal they dub Xenomass, which is both lighter and stronger than any found back on 'Old Earth.' Genetic modifications and gene splicing are now common among the citizens with most having more alien DNA then human, allowing them to breathe and even heal in the toxic miasma. The alien wildlife are also used in every aspect of their lives, from beasts of burdens to pets for children.

After years of Cold War, Brasilia and the Polystralia and ARC alliance erupt into war. However due to the espionage skill of the ARC spies, the Brazilian 'surprise' attack ended in a failure as the alliance puts its new tactical CNDR robots into service for the first time with devastating effects.

The PAC and Slavic Federation's power are almost completely gone as the war finally draws to a close. However before the two powers can come to peace the Franco-Iberians unleash a wave of nuclear 'dirty bombs' they had hidden in every city throughout the war. This attack shocks and cripples the already weakened PAC and Slavic Federation as the two powers try to stop the invading armies, but are no match for the almost fanatical devotion of the invaders as well as their advanced technology.

**1429 GS/57,472 CE: **The war between the ARC and Polynesia alliance against Brasilia reaches a stalemate as the Brazilians have far more territory and military but are nowhere near as well equipped as the alliance's robots and cybernetically enhanced soldiers.

Realizing they needed more to end this war the alliance develop Neural Uploading, allowing human minds to be digitalized and put into robotic bodies. This comes at a cost as each person is uploaded to the network they begin to change, becoming more cold and unfeeling. Unable to hold out against this new mechanical legion the tide begins to turn in the alliance's favour.

**1432 GS/57,475 CE: **The Kavitha Protectorate get a breakthrough in their study of the planet's conscious and begin the construction of the Mind Flower. This structure will link all the organisms on the planet into one mind and create a utopian collective mind.

The Franco-Iberians conquer the last remnants of the PAC and Slavic Federation, giving them the choice of death or joining their 'glorious crusade.' After this the construction of the Exodus Gate begins, a large warp portal would allow them to transport themselves back the 'Old Earth.'

**1433 GS/57,477 CE: **The ARC and Polynesia alliance finally conquer the last of their Brazilian enemies before exterminating them with machine efficiency. After the war is over instead of breaking the alliance apart the two powers grow closer as neither can see any difference between the two thanks to sharing their minds through the computerized network.

Following this declaration the alliance names itself the Supremacy Pact after the movement that brought the two together before they start construction on the Emancipation Gate. This is a warp gate that would lead them back to Earth, where they could free their brethren from their organic shells.

**1434 GS/57,478 CE: **The Kavitha Protectorate complete the construct of the Mind Flower and successfully link the minds of every living thing on that planet into one conscious. This collection of minds names itself Harmonious Collective before turning its gaze to the stars.

**1436 GS/57,480 CE: **The Franco-Iberian's complete their Exodus Gate and rename themselves the Purity Legion in celebration. Upon setting foot on 'Old Earth' they are shocked to find what's left of their brethren have been wiped out.

Attempting to discover what had happened lead to the conclusion that it was by outside factors, evidence of orbital bombardments and ground invasion was clear in every major city. Shocked and angered the Puritans began scouring the Earth, looking for any signs to indicate who had ruined their paradise but the only clue remaining was a simple message carved into stone, 'the Reapers are coming.'

**1437 GS/57,481 CE: **While searching the Purity Legion and Supremacy Pact encountered each other and, each believing the other was the cause of this destruction, declared war.

**1440 GS/57,484 CE: **After successfully hacking and infiltrating the Purity Legion networks the Supremacy Pact realized what had happened and immediate began negotiations, showing the Legion evidence they had collected.

At first the Puritans were suspicious but when more data was shown to them they agreed that the Supremacists were not responsible and ceased hostilities.

**1441 GS/57,485 CE: **In fear that the ones who exterminated their brethren were still around the Supremacy Pact and Purity Legion enter an alliance called the Affinity Alliance and begin creating their own fleets on their respective homeworlds as well as shipping resources to Earth for a combined fleet construction.

The Harmonious Collective uncover Progenitor ruins on their planet which reveals a new form a space flight that wasn't limited by the Inflection point as well as a form of FTL travel. The Collective begins rapid ship constructoin as the curiosity of a thousand beings urges them onwards to explore the stars, even as this new element began seeping into their bodies creating the first Biotics.

**1506 GS/57,550 CE: **An Affinity Alliance terraformer ship on its way to Mars picks up some odd signals coming from the planet and notifies command.

Examining the signal reveals some form of ruins on the red planet. A team of Supremacy CNDRs are sent down to investigate due to possible biological pathogens. The team reports an all clear and a scientific study is conducted on the ruins.

The study reveals a new element dubbed Element Zero due to its mass changing properties as well as an FTL drive that runs off it, and a nearly destroyed record of a dead race known as the Protheans. Both factions are angered and shocked to find that this race uplifted their ancestors to fight against a threat only known as the Reapers.

**1511 GS/57,555 CE: **Pluto's moon of Charon breaks apart and the Affinity Alliance brace themselves for a fight as a small fleet of organic looking blue-green ships emerge from a tuning fork like structure. To their surprise the fleet is actually from the Harmonious Collective, who had been experimenting with FTL travel for some years.

Upon meeting their erstwhile cousins most of the Puritans were in shock at how they'd 'twisted' themselves and only the logical machine reasoning of their Supremacy allies prevented another war breaking out.

Explaining what they knew of their ancestor's fate they offered the Collective a place in their alliance. This was debated and accepted by the Collective whom began sharing their knowledge of Element Zero FTL and Biotics.

**1511-1656 GS/57,555-57,700 CE: **A time of peace and growth occurs as the Affinity Alliance begins to expand, connecting each world with a series of Warp Gates. Allowing the fleets to focus on military while trade and tourism moved through the gates.

A total of only 30 worlds are inhabited by the Affinity Alliance due to their high requirements of the planets needing at least one of the three main resources present; Floatstone, Firaxite or Xenomass. Aggressive terraforming is used if these resources are found but not on a garden world. The only exception to this rule is their capital 'Old Earth' which the Puritans refuse to change or abandon.

**1657 GS/57,701 CE: **A scouting party into unknown territory fails to respond near the Supremacy industrial world of Shanxi, reinforcements are on route.

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**Well what do you think should I continue it or not? Also the Mass Effect timeline is complete rubbish which is why I changed it slightly to for my story.**


	2. The Die Is Cast

**Well guys I can honestly say I'm shocked and amazed at the response I got for this fic, seriously 20 follows in 24 hours that's insane! Sorry it took so long to update but the minute I thought I had time I got flooded with work. The way I'm going to update this is for every two chapters I release on my main fic I'll release one for this one. **

**bob rijke: I didn't even know that Starships existed when I started this so while there will be some elements from that game they won't be the main focus (especially since it has yet to be released.) Once I get my hands on a copy of the game I might use it but for right now the only thing I'm using Starships for is an image of what each factions spacecraft would look like.**

**5 Coloured Walker: I didn't go into a lot of depth into the Mass Effect side since I assumed everyone had already knew what had happened. That's why I focused on the Civ side since I needed to explain how each faction formed.**

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_"Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying." -Arthur C. Clarke_

* * *

**Mass Relay 314**

The Mass Relay began spinning and glowing a bright blue as a fleet of ships appeared around it, two small Frigates and one large Dreadnought. Each ship was both angular and sleek at the same time with jutting edges and curves that seamlessly flowed with the ships. All three were a gunmetal grey and had glowing orange lines running through along them, this and the numerous turrets mounted along the hulls indicated that they were warships. And if looks were anything to go by they were extremely good at their job.

_+++Immediate area secure, beginning search of the surrounding space+++_

The two Frigates, upon hearing the command, split up from the Dreadnought and went in opposite directions. The Dreadnought just stayed near the now active relay as it began reporting its finds to its brethren.

_+++No sign of the Reapers or Protheans yet. Continuing search+++_

Suddenly one of the Frigates simply ceased to exist as it was fired upon by three oddly avian looking ships that emerged from the nearby asteroid belt. Instantly the other Frigate broke off from its search and sped back to the Dreadnought, meanwhile the larger ship began analysing their opponents. Like their own fleet this one had two Frigate sized craft and one slightly smaller Dreadnought, but what stood out was their FTL drive. It was a Prothean style Element Zero drive. Immediately the Supremacy Fleet began powering up their defence systems while the Dreadnought activated its long range communication.

_+++Enemy contact detected, Frigate _Sydney_ destroyed. Possible Protheans, engaging now+++_

The trio of enemy ships weren't going to wait for them though and released another volley, the two Supremacy ships began glowing a bright orange as their energy shields absorbed the blows and began heading to the nearby asteroid belt that their attackers had emerged from. The trio of avian ships paused briefly before turning to pursue them and the two fleets began playing cat and mouse through the deadly belt. However while the enemy ships were good they could not match the synchronization that the two Supremacy ships displayed, with every manoeuvres, every near miss it became clear who the masters of this battle field were.

It seemed the enemy had realized this as well and tried another tactic, the bows of the three ships flashed with light as they fired again. This time not at the Supremacy ships but at the asteroids surrounding them, pelting the two black and orange ships with flying debris and destroying their cover in the process. Logging and storing this trick for later analysis the Dreadnought once again activated its long range communications to report.

_+++Enemy is unorthodox and intelligent. Commander cannot be allowed to live+++_

With the decision made the two ships exited the belt and turned to face the fleet, prioritizing the Dreadnought as the primary target. Attempting to hack the target directly failed due to an unusually robust defence program and trying to integrate with the unfamiliar systems. This problem was solved by using the smaller Frigates to piggyback onto the Dreadnought, bypassing the worst of the problems and allowing the AIs to integrated with the ship's systems.

Unfortunately this integration would take time and it was clear that the two Supremacy ships were running out of this valuable resource. Suddenly the spinal cannon of the Dreadnought began powering up, the smaller Frigate immediately placed itself between the two Dreadnoughts and pushed all its power to its shield just as the alien ship fired. The round impacted the Frigate's shield with the force of a nuclear bomb, shattering the weakened orange shield and gutting the Supremacy ship before its Firaxite reactor went critical.

_+++Main weapons are projectile based. No energy weapons present yet. Force is greater than Purity Mass Accelerator. Frigate _Alamo_ destroyed+++_

Using the new miniature sun as a distraction the Supremacy Dreadnought rapidly approached the fleet before the numerous turrets dotting along its surface glowed a bright orange. Faster than the eye could see a barrage of orange lasers pelted the two alien Frigates, the energy weapons passing right through their shields and melting through their armour. One of the ships simply drifted away as its bridge was hit while the other exploded as its Mass Effect core was damaged and overloaded.

_+++No defense against energy weapons. Yet shields clearly deflect projectiles+++_

The alien Dreadnought didn't take too kindly to seeing its two companions destroyed and once again charged up its spinal canon, causing the Supremacy ship to focus all power to its energy shield as it turned to present a smaller target. The round pounded on the bright orange shield which managed to briefly hold back the kinetic force before it too shattered and the round slammed into the hull. The mass accelerator tore through the hull of the ship but stopped short of the generator, thanks to the shields absorbing most of the energy.

_+++Shields depleted. Hull integrity compromised. Weapon systems offline. Analysis of enemy complete. M.A.D contingency authorized. Dreadnought AA _Orizaba_ signing out+++_

Unable to fight the _Orizaba_ powered down its engines and played dead, hoping the aliens would take the bait. Sure enough the alien Dreadnought moved in closer to get a clean kill, once it was in position the _Orizaba_ sent a signal to the infiltrated AIs. While they weren't integrated enough to do much damage to the ship they could influence some of their systems, which the aliens were about to find out. Shunting all power to the ships engines the _Orizaba _headed straight on a collision course with the alien Dreadnought, just before the two ships collided a strangely organic feeling entered it for the first time since it had been uploaded. Vengeance.

Activating the ship to ship communications it focused on the alien Dreadnought, "**we are not your tools Prothean. Be afraid Xenos, for we are Humanity and we are coming for you.**"

Then two ships then collided and from a brief moment the galaxy gained an extra sun as the wheels of fate began churning and the drums of war echoed across the Milky Way.

* * *

**Council Chambers – Citadel**

If anyone had turned to look at Councilor Sparatus they would have immediately given the Turian a wide berth as he all but ran across the Presidium and into the Council Chambers, meeting the angered glares sent at him by his fellow councilors. The Turian felt himself subconsciously stand up straighter under the glares as his ingrained military training kicked in.

"Sparatus you better have a damn good reason for calling an emergency council session at this early in the morning," growled Tevos, while Valern just gave the Turian an intrigued smile.

"I wouldn't have called it unless it was for a good reason Tevos," he replied, tiredly. "We have a level one emergency."

His fellow councilors just gave the Turian a shocked expression at his announcement, level one emergency was the equivalent of a threat to the entire Council races. It hadn't been used since the Geth rebellion and takeover of the Perseus Veil, for it to be used now instantly caught their attention.

"Would this have anything to do with the incident at relay 314?" asked Valern.

Sparatus just frowned as he glared at the Salarian, "I'm not going to even ask how you knew about top level information that only the Primachs have access to, but yes this is about relay 314."

"Goddess, what have you done this time Sparatus?" sighed Tevos, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"A Turian Hierarchy patrol fleet encountered a group of unknown ships activating relay 314 and opened fire, before all contact with the fleet was lost," read Valern as he activated his omni-tool.

"You opened fire on a new race? What the hell were you thinking Sparatus!?" yelled Tevos.

"We were trying to uphold Citadel Law, Tevos! We thought they were a new race that had no idea what they were doing and decided to stop it before we had another Rachni war on our hands," shot back the Turian.

"And look at how well that's gone," snarled the Asari.

"Enough! What's in the past is done. However unfortunate this is I fail to see why you sought the need to organize this impromptu meeting or declare a level one emergency. If this is a new race then surely the Turian Hierarchy can deal with it themselves," stated Valern, cutting off their argument before it got even more heated.

Sparatus took a deep breath to calm his temper before activating his omni-tool, "after we lost contact with the patrol we sent the 5th Fleet to their last known location, I'm sending you their reports."

The two councilors just glanced at each other as their omni-tools lit up, both their eyes widening as they scrolled through the report, "Sparatus are you absolutely sure these reports are accurate?" asked Valern.

In response the Turian just pressed a button on his omni-tool and a static filled recording echoed across the chambers.

"_Sir! Our scans of the enemy ships are complete there…Spirits, there are no life signs detected!" announced a worried looking Turian._

"_Synthetics? Damn it!" growled the commander._

"_Grasping Talons and Songbird have both been destroyed, by energy weapons!" informed another crew member._

"_Mass Accelerator is ready to fire sir!" said the weapons officer._

"_Make them pay," ordered the commander._

"_Firing! Direct hit!" cried the weapons officer and a cheer echoed through the CIC._

"_Target is intact!" cried the sensor officer as he looked up from his station, instantly the cheer died in the Turians' throats._

"_Ensign, report! What is it doing now?" asked the commander._

"_The ship's drifting and its weapon's and engine systems appear disabled, however the superstructure of the ship is intact," reported the sensor officer._

"_Engines bring us in close, I want to get a clear shot to take that thing out," ordered the commander._

"_Yes sir!" replied the engine's officer._

"_We're in position, waiting on your order sir," he announced._

_The commander's mandibles moved into the Turian form of a grin, "fire."_

_Just as the words left his mouth another crew member cried out, "power surge to the enemy ship's engines, it's on the move."_

"_What course?" demanded the commander in frustration._

_The officer tapped into his console before he turned to face the commander, "they're on a ramming course!"_

"_Evasive manoeuvres!" roared the commander._

"_We can't! Something is shutting down our engines!" informed the engine's officer._

"_Sir! The VIs are reporting a virus in our systems," said another and the Turian commander turned to face the oncoming ship with a sigh._

"_Forget about the engines, make sure the VIs protect the recording software and eject the black box. The Hierarchy needs to know what we're facing here," he ordered._

"_Understood sir," replied a bridge member._

_The commander just gazed proudly at his crew before getting up from his chair and saluting them, "gentleman it has been an honour serving with you all."_

_The Turians all returned the salute as they replied, "the honour is all ours Commander Arterius."_

The screen turned black before the councilors heard a synthesized voice echo from the recording, "**we are not your tools Prothean. Be afraid xenos, for we are Humanity and we are coming for you.**"

The recording died and the Council Chambers was silent as each began organizing their thoughts, eventually Tevos spoke up, "Sparatus, what was that?"

The Turian sighed, "that was the final recording we recovered from a black box belonging to Commander Desolas Arterius' Dreadnought _Palaven's Pride_."

"A very renowned individual," commented Tevos. "He was scheduled to be made a General soon wasn't he? What was he doing on a basic border patrol?"

"His younger brother, Saren, is currently stationed in the Skyllian Verge which is close to relay 314. Possibly looking out for his younger sibling?" questioned Valern.

Sparatus didn't bother questioning the Salarian's knowledge and just nodded his head, "that's what we thought as well. The two brothers are very close so we decided that he could do this in exchange for accepting the promotion."

Tevos just sighed as she returned her attention back to the report, "so we are facing a synthetic race with energy weapons, as bad as it would be are we sure this isn't just the Geth expanding?"

Valern spoke up, "possible but not likely. The ship profiles don't match any of the known Geth configurations or styles."

"So what do we do?" sighed the Asari.

Sparatus stepped forward, "mobilize our forces, we can't let another synthetic race begin attacking our borders, the Geth are bad enough."

Valern nodded in agreement and after giving the recording another watch Tevos sighed again and gave a reluctant nod. "The 5th Fleet is already searching for their world, if we're lucky they've only spread to a few systems," informed the Turian.

"We'll make sure the Terminus systems don't try anything while they are gone," promised the Asari while Valern began tapping into his scroll.

Sparatus gave them both a thankful nod before walking away, "if you'll excuse me, my people have a war to fight."

* * *

**Affinity Alliance Space - Eta Vulpecula**

_+++Reports analysed, possibility of Protheans is high+++_

There was a brief lull in the computerized network as each intelligence, artificial or otherwise, linked to the network paused in shock. After so many years of search and finding only ruins of this race many had believed that they had gone extinct, the system lull lasted a whole two seconds before nearly crashing from the sudden influx of programs joining it.

_+++Shanxi is in danger. Reinforcements must be sent immediately and the organics there evacuated+++_

There was a cry of agreement with this thought, their brethren who had yet to leave their organic shells were vulnerable. Far away on the Supremacy world of Shanxi the warp gate began glowing a bright orange as the organics and non-combatant cybernetics who had yet to upload were herded through the portal to safety. Meanwhile on the other numerous Supremacy worlds, fleets were gathered and sent to the industrial world. The Emancipation Gates on every world glowed orange as CNDRs, SABRs, CARVRs, Apostles, Educators, Redeemers and even a small army of ANGELs all converged on the planet. The Shanxi gate never stopped glowing as more and more units poured forth from the portal and began reinforcing the small planet.

_+++Fleets will take some time to reach Shanxi. Enemy will have orbital dominance when they attack+++_

A brief sigh of annoyance echoed throughout the network before it turned its attention to another matter.

_+++What do we tell our allies? They will notice the troop movement+++_

The network paused again as they programs weighed the pros and cons of each choice before settling on a course of action.

_+++Everything that we know so far. We have encounter a hostile race and the chances are high that they are Protheans_. _Reinforcements are being sent to Shanxi. Besides the Purity Legion will be delighted to know we've found them, they've been wanting to test their new special forces for some time+++_

With the decision made a message was sent to the Alliance HQ on Old Earth requesting an emergency meeting, even as the Shanxi gate shut down and the last of the reinforcements set foot on the planet. As the Supremacy ambassador entered the chambers the long range sensors on Shanxi detected multiple ships on course for the planet. Before all contact with Shanxi was lost.

* * *

**Codex**

**Affinity Alliance: **An Alliance made up of three different factions of the race known as Humanity that encompasses most of the Orion Arm of the galaxy. It is not currently known how many planets this alliance controls but due to the end result of the war, experts estimate around 50-60. These three factions are Purity Legion, Supremacy Pact and Harmonious Collective but are so radically different that many consider them separate races. It has often been joked that there are no Citadel Laws left for the Affinity Alliance to break and while this is an exaggeration, it still has a grain of truth to it.

**Purity Legion:** A theocratic government that worships anything to do with their past. This faction shows what humans originally looked like and bear an eerie resemblance to Asari. Despite this physical similarity they are of a completely different mindset, often xenophobic and fanatical in their devotion. During the war it was noted that they were extremely trigger happy with the use of WMDs on Garden worlds. They have been seen showing hostility and contempt to their Collective allies even in the combat zone.

**Supremacy Pact:** A collection of AIs, digitally uploaded humans and cybernetically augmented humans. This faction was the first one encountered by the Council during the relay 314 incident that kicked started the First Contact War. While the majority of this faction's population is synthetic, around 42% still keep their organic form but display many cybernetic augments. When asked why the ambassador replied; 'if there are no organics left how would more human minds be born and uploaded to the network?' It should be noted that the ambassador then offered to upload the brains of any dying or homeless citizens of the Council's Space. Councilor Tevos politely told him that it could not be arranged but that hasn't stopped people smugglers from trying to run the 314 blockade.

**Harmonious Collective: **Not much is known about this faction despite its relatively good relationship with the Council when compared to the other factions. What we do know is that they somehow created an artificial collective mind that encompasses all the species of the planets they own. The faction has also become incredibly good at genetic engineering as many found out in the form of the Xeno Titian during the war. Their skill with Biotics are second only to the Asari and during the war they often flooded the targets with toxic miasma before launching their invasion.

* * *

**Okay so guys just a heads up this is not going to be a complete humanity stomps everything fic. Or at least I'm trying not to make it one. The reason why is simple, while the Civ side has ground combat down to an artform they've never fought in space before or had much time to experiment with Mass Effect FTL. Remember compared to the Council they're very inexperienced in space combat. Anyway hope you all liked the chapter.**

**PS. If you want to know what the Supremacy ships look like just google Sid Meier's Starships and you'll see them.**


	3. Quaking In Fear

**Alright next chapter is done hope you guys like it. Surprisingly enough I'm most excited to write about the Purity faction more then the others, it will be fun to try and write fanatic characters. Thanks to Tormound for the idea of including wonders I never actually thought of that.**

**P.S. The name of the Purity Faction has been changed to Purity Legion however I still need a name for Supremacy faction so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The only rule is that it must have Supremacy in its name.**

* * *

_"No plan survives contact with the enemy."- Correlli Barnett_

* * *

**Unknown space outside relay 314 – Hierarchy Dreadnought Indomitable**

General Adrien Victus frowned as he observed the planet before him and gave a resounding sigh as he took in the sight of it. The world would have been incredibly beautiful once upon a time, maybe even a paradise. But now the lush blue green planet was dotted with grey metallic structures and orange glows branching out like a disease.

"Well they're certainly industrious I'll give them that," commented the Turian before turning to one of his officers.

"Sensors what are we dealing with?" he asked.

"Sir! The planet is covered in artificial satellites however most appear to be pointed towards the planet itself," answered the crew member.

"What about enemy ships?" replied Victus.

"A small fleet were in system but they fled through the relay when the rest 5th fleet arrived," informed the bridge officer.

"As well they should, no one can stand up against the Hierarchy," boasted another crew member.

"And now they know the exact numbers of our invasion fleet for if, no, when they decide to retake the system. I would have done the same so now we're on a time limit, wonderful," commented the general with a sigh.

The bridge was silent as he turned to face them with a frown on his face, "never let your pride blind you to facts, that arrogance **will **get you killed."

"Sir, shall we begin landing our ground forces?" asked his XO.

"Indeed but tell them to avoid those satellites until we can destroy them, just to be safe," ordered the general.

There was a silence in the CIC as Victus' orders were relayed throughout the fleet before numerous shuttles and their fighter escorts began descending to the surface of the planet, each heading for a point just outside the main cities. The Turian braced himself as he watched the ground forces descend, expecting massive casualties from AA fire to occur at any moment. However much to his surprise not a single enemy aircraft or incoming fire rose up to meet them and the Turian forces landed without any difficulty.

"General, all landing zones have been secured. Shall we begin setting up our forward operating base?" informed the XO.

Victus nodded but kept his expression neutral, 'something's wrong, this is too easy.' Meanwhile the officers were cheering at this success and laughed at how this would be over before dinner, the general just frowned as numerous reports came from the ground forces came in, all saying the same thing. _No enemy contact_. As the Turian looked over the planet he couldn't help but wonder where the enemy was and tried to banish a bad feeling growing as more ground forces landed in the newly established FOBs in preparation for a ground invasion of the cities.

_+++Targets are setting up bases as predicted. Markov Eclipse is recording. Time to drop Archimedes' Lever+++_

* * *

**Old Earth- Affinity Alliance meeting chambers**

"I think this is the first time we've ever had an emergency meeting like this," commented the Purity representative.

"Indeed Udina which should show how serious this situation is, I'm sure that the Supremacy Pact wouldn't of called it otherwise," replied the Harmony representative.

"Yes Kavitha but I would like to know why I've got reports of half their fleet leaving their systems as well as the Emancipation gate network being barred from all but military uses," growled Udina as he rounded on the Supremacy representative.

The augmented human just sighed as her cybernetic implants briefly glowed orange before speaking up, "we were attacked by a hostile race of aliens. Even as we speak Shanxi is under siege from a large enemy fleet."

The other two representatives blinked in surprise, obviously not expecting that answer, "xenos dare attack Humanity?! We will deal with them immediately!" spat Udina.

"While I appreciate the sentiment we must be cautious about this Udina," warned the augmented representative.

"What do you mean Banda?" asked Kavitha.

"We believe that they might be Protheans or at least be related to them, if so we can't afford to show our hand just yet," answered Banda Fielding.

There was silence in the chambers as the other two representatives had mixed expressions on their faces, Kavitha had a worried frown while Udina had a predatory grin on his face. Banda sighed at her fellow representative's expression knowing there was no turning back at this point, at least she could count on the Purity Legion's support for the upcoming war, if nothing else.

"At last we found them now those Xeno scum will pay the price for their crimes! I will muster the fleets for Shanxi immediately," grinned the Purity representative as he headed to the exit.

"No! Please wait!" cried Banda, drawing the attention of both the representatives.

"No? You want me to wait now that we've found them! After all these years!" demanded Udina as he walked up to her.

"Just for now," she assured him. "My faction will deal with them at Shanxi and keep them distracted. While we are doing this I would ask the Purity Legion and Harmonious Collective to attack the xeno's own planets."

Udina just glared at her, never breaking eye contact before nodding, "very well I will inform my superiors of this situation."

Banda sighed and slumped into her chair in relief as Udina left, only to jump back to her feet as she heard clapping coming from in front of her. Looking up she saw Kavitha smiling as she applauded Banda, whom grinned sheepishly as she realized that she'd forgot about her fellow representative.

"Quite the first day for you isn't it?" grinned Kavitha.

"Yeah having to deal with both an angry Udina and alien invasion, I don't know which one I prefer," agreed Banda.

"Welcome to the wonderful world of politics," laughed the Harmony representative.

"Yeah I'm starting to see why my predecessor quit," replied the augmented human.

Kavitha's expression softened as she placed a hand on her shoulder, "you did good today, reminded me of your grandparents. The cunning of Susan and charisma of Hutuma, it was a sight to see."

Banda gave a sad smile, "I've just condemned a species to oblivion, Kavitha. We both know what the Legion is capable of, how can I be proud about that?"

**"Don't worry the Collective will keep them in check,"** reassured Kavitha in a voice that sounded like many speaking at once.

Glancing at the representative in surprise Banda saw Kavitha's veins glow a slight green before returning to normal and walking out. Banda blinked as she watched the door shut, leaving her alone in the chamber. She had forgotten that when speaking to Kavitha she was speaking to the entire Collective, it was a sobering thought.

* * *

**Unknown hostile planet- FOB Bravo**

Numlius Indamus of the Cabal team Soaring sighed as he watched the sun begin to set in the distance, his nerves had been frayed from constantly staying alert for any kind of danger and now that it was turning dark the chance of attack had just increased tenfold. The constant earthquakes and murmuring from the 501st troops weren't helping his mood either, honestly he knew Cabals had a bad reputation but not this bad.

"Something on your mind rookie?" asked a familiar voice.

Jumping to his feet the Turian saluted as his superior approached him, "Kabalim Vakarian sir! Forgive me I didn't know you were there sir."

The senior Cabal officer just waved it aside with a laugh, "son sneaking up on recruits is my job. Anyway is there something wrong? Feel free to tell me, us Cabals have to stick together after all."

Numlius just turned to look at the surrounding ocean as the last rays of light died, "it's just that well…it's too quiet. We've been here for an entire day without any sigh of the enemy, it's got me paranoid."

The older Turian nodded in understanding, "this is you first mission it's only natural to be nervous. Relax, if this continues going this well I'll be able to see my family before long, don't want to jinx us now do you?"

"You have a family, sir?" exclaimed Numlius before quickly apologizing as he realized what he'd said.

Again the Kabalim just waved it off with a smile, "not all Turians have this stupid fear of us Cabals. I was lucky enough to marry one, even had a kid around your age. I'll have to introduce you at some point his name's Garrus, a bit of a dare devil but a good kid at heart."

"Looking forward to it sir," replied Numlius and suddenly they were both knocked off their feet as another earthquake occurred.

"That was the largest one yet," commented the Kabalim as he helped his subordinate to his feet.

Numlius just nodded and was about to respond when his mandibles flared in surprise, noticing this his superior turned and for a brief moment froze at the sight that greeted him. The two Turians watched as the water from the nearby coast began to recede inwards, exposing the sea floor to them.

"Spirits…we have to evacuate now!" ordered Kabalim Vakarian as a massive wave began forming in the distance.

* * *

**Unknown space outside relay 314 – Hierarchy Dreadnought Indomitable**

Adrien Victus read the latest report from the ground forces and despite the massive progress that was being made on the FOBs he couldn't find himself able to relax. The invasion had been going for an entire day and still there had been no contact with the enemy aside from the occasional rocket barrage if they got too close to the cities. It was driving the Turian mad, these were synthetics, they were supposed to be logical! Surely they knew that once the FOBs were established the cities would quickly fall to their might.

"General! The FOBs have been completed but they're getting some strange tectonic activity nearby, the commanders want to hold off the attack until it has passed," informed the XO.

'Tectonic activity? Strange, the planet doesn't seem unstable,' he thought with a frown. They'd have to be careful with heavy ordnance and orbital support if that was the case, they could make the situation worse if they weren't careful.

"Tell the commanders that they're to wait until it has passed, we want those cities as intact as possible," he ordered, before turning to the tactical readout.

"Have those satellites been destroyed yet?" he asked.

"All of them except for the few in geosynchronous orbit around the cities have been taken out," answered the sensor officer.

Victus nodded and leaned back into his chair only to jump up when an alarm began ringing throughout the CIC. 'So it begins,' he sighed while the communications officer turned to face him.

"Sir! The FOBs are being destroyed!" shouted the crew member.

"What's happening? Are they all under attack?" demanded the general.

"No sir they're being destroyed by…that can't be right. All the coastal bases are reporting simultaneous Tsunamis heading straight for them and the inland FOBs are reporting earthquakes and landside doing the same," he informed the general.

Victus' eyes widened at this and he growled in annoyance, "tell the base commanders to take whatever they can and evacuate the bases."

The communications officer just nodded and went back to work while Victus frowned, the loss of those bases meant the loss of a great deal of their ground forces. 'It's almost too convenient,' he thought with suspicion. Unfortunately his suspicion was proved correct when the communications officer spoke up again.

"Sir, all the survivors from the base attacks are under enemy fire! They were ambushed as they evacuated, the enemy has DEWs! We've lost contact with all our forces except the 501st battalion and their Cabal support," reported the officer.

"Tell them to hunker down and wait for air support and get the fighters ready for deployment!" he ordered.

The entire Turian fleet began scrambling as it launched numerous fighters and gunships to the surface and caused one of the bloodiest wars in Council history to begin. Meanwhile Victus tried to hide his worried expression from the rest of the crew, in one day these synthetics had killed nearly half the Turian's ground forces. He shuddered to think what else they had up their sleeves.

* * *

**Purity Homeworld- Kepler**

The figure ducked under another swing from his opponent before grabbing the offender's wrist and pulling it towards her, unable to stop his momentum the man could only watch as the power armour clad fist smashed into his skull, crushing it on impact. The power amour clad figure just grinned before it picked up the corpse and threw it at the others surrounding her.

"Look close heretics this is the fate that awaits all traitors to humanity," it snarled, its voice reverberating from the skull shaped helmet.

"You will die for that, Dog of the Church!" spat one of the heretics.

"Dog of the Church? Now I resent that," chuckled the figure. "I'm far worse than those idiots in the Enforcers."

As she said this the group of heretics got their first good look at their opponent or more precisely the emblem emblazoned on the shoulder plate, it was a snarling three headed dog. They all backed up in fear as they realized what the emblem symbolized and all came to the same conclusion, none of them were leaving this place alive.

"Oh isn't that cute, looks like you've figured it out," teased the helmeted warrior and the group just levelled their weapons at her.

The power armoured figure was wrapped in a biotic blue haze as it charged the group before they could even fire a shot, slamming into one of the individuals with a force greater the a charging Krogan and crushing him beneath her boot. The rest of the heretics screamed and opened fire only to see the rounds get halted by the figures kinetic shield. Laughing the figure didn't even draw its weapons and just continued to use its fists and Biotics to fight the heretics. Throwing a warp at one of them she grinned beneath her helmet as the heretic cried out in pain.

"Naughty, naughty, children shouldn't play with guns," she laughed and slammed another into the wall.

The rest of the heretics, seeing the carnage she'd inflicted, turned to run only to find themselves suspended by a singularity and helpless as they watched her pull out her rifle, there were several loud bangs and flashes of light before all of them slumped to the floor. Sighing in disappointment as the last of the heretics feel down dead the figure removed her helmet to reveal a Caucasian woman before she activated her omni-tool.

"Mission accomplished," she reported.

"Impressive work as always Gabriel," replied male voice from the omni-tool.

"I aim to please sir. So what's my next assignment" she asked.

"I recently had a conversation with representative Udina, tell me what do you know about Shanxi?" asked the male.

She frowned, "it's a Supremacy world near the border of Affinity Alliance territory."

"And it's is also the site of the first alien attack in human history," finished the man.

Gabriel just blinked in confusion, "then let those mechanical monstrosities deal with it. They don't need our help."

"The attackers are related to the Protheans," he stated, causing her to nearly drop her helmet. "We must set aside the quarrel of our houses and unite under the banner of Humanity!"

An eager grin spread along her face, "oh I see so this, is a Crusade!"

"No, no, no, we don't say that anymore we're calling it…damn what do the Collective scum say?" muttered the voice.

"Peacekeeping?" she smiled.

On the other end of the line Jack Harper smiled, "right, now shall we keep the peace?"

"In the only way Cerberus knows how," came the happy response.

* * *

**Codex**

**Archimedes' Lever**: Originally developed by the Supremacy Pact during their war against Brasilia, it is known as one of the wonders of the modern world. This 'wonder' is capable of causing localized tectonic destabilization, creating earthquakes and other natural disasters. Following its success against Brasilia smaller versions of this wonder were installed on every Supremacy colony afterwards. The Turians have another name for this weapon; Death's Door Knocker, for if you feel it knocking your life is already over.

**Markov Eclipse:** The main defensive AI responsible for analyzing the enemy, it helps provide co-ordination between the numerous robotic units as well as updating them on new tactics to use against them. This combined with the numerous military commanders allows the armies to be highly adaptable and reactive making long engagements in the Supremacy favour. To quote General Victus, 'it's like challenging someone to a game but they have twice as many pieces as you and move three turns for your every one.'

* * *

**So I know that Garrus' dad isn't a Cabal but a C-Sec officer but I changed it for my story however I would like to know would you like to see Garrus as a Cabal or leave him as he is in canon? As for the OC characters introduced this chapter, we will be seeing more of them so sorry to anyone that hates them. As for why Kavitha is still alive well her mind never died it just became part of the Collective again so it would of been an easy method to make a clone body and put her consciousness in that. Next Banda Fielding, for those who haven't played Civ, Susan Fielding and Hutama were the faction leaders of ARC and Polystralia.**


	4. Go Down Swinging

**Alright guys next chapter is done also congratulations to an Anonymous reviewer for suggesting the name Supremacy Pact. So you guys seem to want Garrus to be the same as canon if he comes into this fic, so he won't be a Cabal. I'm also surprised that people got the Hellsing Abridged reference in the last chapter, who knew it was that popular. **

**Time to answer some questions: **

**Guest: The reason I wrote those Turians like that was because the wiki said that Cabal's form very close tight knit groups, so I was trying to show that. The normal Turians should be more disciplined and hopefully that came through with this chapter, if not then shit...**

* * *

_"__All warfare is based on deception."- Sun Tzu_

* * *

Numlius cursed as he ducked under another blast of bright orange light and saw the trooper behind him collapsed to the ground, his kinetic shields useless against the laser weapon. Honestly the situation couldn't get any worse, after evacuating the base the survivors had immediately been ambushed by hostiles. Most of their forces had been taken out in the opening salvo and the rest were struggling to find cover as the synthetics continued to pour fire on them.

Spinning to face his attacker Numlius fired his rifle at the Turian sized bipedal robot until the gun overheated, unfortunately this had no effect as the rounds just pinged off its armoured body. The Turian could only stand in shock as the synthetic leveled its gun at him, the weapon beginning to glow a bright orange.

"Rookie get down!" screamed a familiar voice.

Hearing the order Numlius' training kicked in and he threw himself to the ground as a missile raced over his head and hit his attacker, engulfing the synthetic in the explosion. The armoured form of the robot was shattered and the force blew the synthetic apart, leaving a panting Numlius to struggle to his feet as his savior approached.

"Good to know explosives still work at least," commented Tiso Albucus, the team's demolitions expert as he helped Numlius up.

"Thanks for the save," said Numlius.

"Anytime Rookie," grinned Tiso. "Come on Kabalim Vakarian is trying to hold together what's left of our forces."

The two Turians ran across the makeshift frontlines that had been formed with wreckage from numerous destroyed vehicles and natural cover as the outnumbered Turian forces exchanged fire with their ambushers. Numlius felt a small bit of pride at seeing this, even after being ambushed and routed the Turians still maintained their discipline. It would seem the synthetics weren't expecting this fierce resistance after their ambush and had retreated for now, this made Numlius both glad and worried.

"Why is the Kabalim in charge? Where is the rest of the command staff?" asked the younger Turian.

"Dead," stated Tiso. "They were the first ones targeted in the ambush, the Kabalim was separated from them due to the Tsunami. Probably the only reason he's alive right now."

Numlius blinked but before he could respond they heard a familiar voice, "understood we'll hold them off as long as we can."

The two Cabal members rounded a piece of wreckage to see Kabalim Vakarian along with two high ranking officers from the 501st crowding around the Cabal leader's omni-tool. The Kabalim shut off his omni-tool and began issuing orders to the two troopers.

"Alright get this position fortified, we have to hold out until the evac shuttles arrive," he informed them.

"We're retreating!" cried an outraged trooper.

"No we're regrouping. General Victus wants to debrief us before launching the next attack and if I hear one more outburst from you officer then you will be court marshalled! Now you both have your orders and I expect you to follow them," snapped Vakarian.

"Yes Kabalim!" saluted the two officers and walked off to oversee the troops.

As they passed Numlius the Lieutenant gave the Cabal member a filthy look, "damn Cabal," he muttered under his breath and shoulder barged them as he passed by.

"Tiso, I see you found our missing member. Welcome back Rookie," said the Kabalim.

Numlius snapped a salute to his superior, "sir! Sorry for my delay, I was held up."

"Escaping a Tsunami and being ambushed tends to do that to someone," laughed Tiso.

Numlius lowered his hand, "what happened to the rest of the squad?"

Vakarian gave the younger Turian a relieved smile, "they all got out thankfully, I've sent them out to assist the 501st."

Tiso gave a relieved sigh beside him and smacked Numlius on the back, "looks like the gang's all here. These synthetics don't stand a chance," he laughed.

"Good to see you two getting along so well, especially since you'll be partnered with each other until this debacle is over," informed Vakarian.

The two Turians nodded in understanding, "where are we needed?" asked Tiso.

"The Western Front, it's been too quiet. We don't know what other tricks these synthetics have waiting for us so I'm taking no chances," ordered the Kabalim and they both nodded before heading out.

* * *

The makeshift encampment became a bustle of movement as the Turians began to dig in, making as much use of the time as they could until the synthetics returned for a round two. They weren't kept waiting long as the Turian's began to feel the ground shake beneath them, all the soldiers readied their weapons as memories of the destroyed base resurfaced. Numlius and Tiso took up position and the senior Cabal member took out his missile launcher while Numlius stared down the scope of his rifle.

The shaking grew more violent and everyone could hear a dull thump getting louder, causing a few fearful mutterings to be heard throughout the remaining ground forces. These murmurings stopped however and an awed silence descended on the Turians at the sight before them, a group of large four legged walkers had just emerged from the nearby mountains. Numlius watched as the long barreled gun on the walkers grew even larger and began glowing orange, as the walker pointed its gun high into the air the young Cabal's eyes widened.

"Artillery! Take cover!" he screamed, in time to see large blobs of orange being fired from the guns and heading straight for the encamped Turians.

Their makeshift fortifications just collapsed as the artillery walkers continued to rain down fire upon them, sending the ground forces to scramble for cover. Mercifully after what seemed like hours the artillery barrage finally ended and Numlius poked his head out only to wish he hadn't.

"Tiso how many heavy weapons survived the base destruction?" he asked.

"Not many, a couple of launchers and the required ammo, I think I saw a tank intact. Why?" responded Tiso.

"Because we're going to need every bit of it," answered the younger Turian.

Frowning at his expression Tiso turned to see what his teammate was looking at and gasped, "Spirits…"

Marching towards them in perfect synchronization was a sea of grey and orange as many different forms of synthetics and even sleek looking vehicles advanced on their position. 'The artillery barrage was there to cover their advance,' realized Numlius.

Along the defender's frontline numerous weapons were pointed at the incoming enemy before there was a brief pause and the mussel flashes of thousands of guns lite up the night sky. While most of the rounds weren't able to penetrate the robot's armour the sheer number and volume from the Turians was enough to breach vulnerable spots in the synthetic's armoured form.

The Turians had long since realized the overheating problem with Mass Effect weaponry and had been training their forces to overcome these limitations and it was showing. The defenders had formed three firing lines, one would fire until their weapons overheated and then the next line would take over and let the other's weapons cool down. This near constant spray of rounds pelted the horde of synthetics, slowing their advance to a crawl.

Realizing the problem the artillery walkers opened fire again, breaking the Turian's formation and sending them once again scrambling for cover. Numlius frowned as he took cover and watched as a few of the front rows of the synthetics were destroyed by friendly fire from the artillery, 'that is why no organic race would use artillery with friendlies this close.' Still despite the small casualties to their side, the synthetic's plan had worked and they reached the frontline before the Turian's could recover.

The two Cabal members quickly found themselves surrounded by numerous synthetics and once again Numlius found his rifle useless to all but a lucky shot to the eyes or joints. Tiso had more luck with his launcher but they were nearly out of missiles and there was still no shortage of enemies around them. Dropping his useless rifle Numlius was surround in a biotic blue haze as he sent a warp towards one of the humanoid bipedal robots and was surprised to see its armoured form crumple in on itself, the twisted metal piecing its power core and sending the robot crashing to the ground.

"Tiso use Biotics they're extremely effective!" he called as he sent another warp to his next target with similar results.

Instantly the two Turians found themselves being swarmed by synthetics as more and more poured into the breach. Numlius ducked under another orange blast only to see an extremely large bipedal robot ignore two 501st troopers firing at it and head straight for the Cabals. 'They prioritizing us as the biggest threats,' he realized and dived out of cover as it was destroyed from weapons fire. In a way it was almost something to be proud of, an entire synthetic horde considered them enough of a threat to put them on the 'must kill' list.

Seeing the approaching large robot Tiso fired his last missile into the monstrosity only to see it have no effect other than singeing its armour. They both backed up as the synthetic rose to its full height and levelled its glowing orange gun at them before disappearing in an explosion that blew them off their feet. Looking up they saw the welcoming sight of a squadron of Turian fighters bombing the synthetic horde.

"All forces fall back to the gunships, anyone who is late is being left behind," ordered the Kabalim's voice over the radio.

The two Cabals looked at the ring of enemies surrounding them before nodding to each other and threw up singularities on either side, as their enemies were suspended helplessly in the air the Turians sprinted towards the descending gunships. Reaching the evac craft Numlius sighed as he collapsed from exhaustion into the chair and the gunship lifted off the ground.

Tiso laughed, "welcome to team Soaring Rookie, I think you're going to do fine."

Numlius was about to respond when an alarm rang throughout the gunship, "what's going on?" demanded Tiso to the pilot.

"Enemy fighters, they're heading straight for us!" cried the pilot.

"Don't we have fighter support?!" raged the Cabal.

"They're still cleaning up the rest of the synthetics on the ground, it'll take a couple of minutes for them to reach us," replied the pilot as the gunship began evasive maneuvers.

Suddenly the gunship shuttered and began descending down to the ground, "damn it we're hit! Brace yourself!" The last thing Numlius felt was something slam into the back of his head before everything went dark.

_+++82.7% of the predicted 100% of enemy forces that landed were eliminated. 17.3% escaped into orbit. The Biotics' escape was prevented, teams on route to wreckage, capture of the Biotics is priority. Underestimation of the tactics and discipline of the enemy forces is likely cause for the discrepancy, both have been logged for further analysis. Beginning cleanup operations. Result: resounding success despite underestimating enemy forces+++_

* * *

General Victus and his surrounding officers were silent as they read the casualty list, of the ground forces rescued only a small amount were able to make it back to the fleet. They rest were shot down by the enemy fighters that had appeared out of nowhere before their own were able to chase them off. The doors to the tactical meeting suddenly opened and the general saw Kabalim Vakarian walk in, creating an imposing sight as he was still encased in his damaged and blood stained armour. The Cabal saluted his superiors before taking a seat as they all read his report and watched the numerous recordings of the landing debacle.

"Spirits, nearly half our ground forces wiped out in a single day. The amount of troops required for this would be enormous. How did they have that many troops garrisoned on a world as small as this?" whispered one of the tacticians.

"A better question is _why_ did they have this many troops on this world," commented Vakarian.

"What do you mean Kabalim?" asked the general with a frown.

"Sir, there is no reason to station this number of troops on a world unless you're either planning an invasion or expecting one. Neither option bodes well for us," informed the senior Cabal.

"Impossible, if they were planning to invade the council they would have had a larger fleet present in the system," scoffed another officer.

"Then what about defending from an invasion," argued the Kabalim.

"The problem remains that there was too small a fleet here to repel an invasion, including the fact that they would need to mobilize their entire navy to deliver that many troops here in the short amount of time available," informed the general.

"With respect sir, these synthetics are able to create earthquakes on demand, invent infantry and ship energy weapons and are clearly no novices to combat. Can we really assume that they don't have the technology capable of doing this?" replied Vakarian.

Victus gave the Cabal an appraising look before an approving smile spread across his face, "no, no we cannot. As being the only person here who has fought against them what would you suggest we do Kabalim Vakarian?"

"Ever since we touched down our forces have been doing nothing but reacting to them, dancing to their tune so to speak. What we need to do is go on the offensive, make so the flow of battles are in our favour not theirs," answered Vakarian.

"Not possible, we don't have the number of troops available to capture all their cities," argued a tactician.

The Cabal smiled, "I know that, you know that, but do they?"

The general nodded, "force them to spread out their forces between the cities? That could work but only once."

"It would only need to work once, if we can take their capital then we'll have a good foot hold for reinforcements once they arrive," suggested the Kabalim.

"True, but even with their forces spread out it will be difficult to capture it. Especially since that damn Door Knocker stops us from making bases in preparation," pointed out the same tactician.

"That's why the capital needs to be captured, it's the most logical place for them to hide that weapon. We take the capital and we take out that weapon," agreed Victus.

"That still leaves the problem of the cities normal defenses, we might not have enough troops to take it let alone hold it until reinforcements arrive," commented another officer.

The Turian general looked at the scan of the city, "that won't be a problem, we have orbital superiority. It's time these synthetics learnt what that means."

* * *

**Codex:**

**CNDR: **The CNDR tactical robot was first made during the Supremacy Pact's war against Brasilia and was immediately mass produced due to their effectiveness. The robot themselves are a skeletal humanoid in shape and at their full height are approximately the size of a Krogan. They are armed with infantry grade laser weapon that, like all Pact energy weapons, is powered by a Firaxite core. These troops are usually only used in defence of friendly territory due to their ability to link with Markov Eclipse. While they can and are frequently used in attacking it is usually left to the other more adaptable forces.

**CARVR: **A large bipedal robot that could crush most Council mechs under its feet. They are vaguely humanoid shaped but have a powerful energy cannon in place of one arm and large, almost wing like structures on its back. They are usually used as heavy hitters and infantry support during combat, taking out powerful enemies while soaking up the fire from nearby enemy troops. Because of this their armour is incredibly thick and it has often been recorded that these robots can take multiple rockets before finally succumbing.

**SABR: **The Pact's most powerful artillery and indeed the most powerful artillery in the Affinity Alliance, these four legged walkers can do enormous damage over a large range but have very limited mobility. It is because of this that they are usually used defensively or deployed behind friendly lines, trusting the supporting infantry to keep them safe.

**Seraph: **The all-purpose aircraft of the Supremacy Pact, they are capable of attacking both ground and aerial targets with equal ease. However due to the lack of specialization in attacking either targets, pilots need to be extremely well trained to match their more specialized aerial opponents. This theme of versatility and training over specialization is carried on by all members of the Affinity Alliance and is one of the main reasons for their smaller number of pilots compared to Council races.

**Redeemer: **The main form of vehicle support for the Pact's ground forces, they fill the role of light armoured infantry support as well as scouting and reconnaissance vehicles. They are able to cross difficult terrain easily due to their light armour and hovering form of locomotion. When the enemy breaks ranks to retreat these vehicles are the ones responsible chasing them down as well as rounding up survivors in cleanup operations.

* * *

**Well how'd you like it? I try my best to edit it but I don't have a beta and there are probably still errors so feel free to correct me if you see them. Constructive criticism is welcomed as well as any suggestions you might have.**


	5. Crashing and Burning

**I'm not dead! So I realized I've been neglecting this story for too long and I've put my other story on hiatus to work on this one (the fact that I have writer's block for that fic didn't influence my decision at all I swear!). Anyway the next chapter is going to be the end of the Shanxi arc and after that it'll be open season on the council races. **

* * *

_"It may be necessary to accept a lesser evil, but one must never label a **necessary**** evil **as_ good."_-Margaret Mead_

* * *

**Affinity Alliance space-Shanxi **

"Are these xenos really the mythical Protheans we've been worrying about for all these years? If they're all as incompetent as this then the Legion won't even need the Collective or Pact to deal with them," frowned Gabriel as she observed the numerous ships surrounding her as the infiltration craft snuck through the blockade around the planet.

"True but keep in mind we haven't seen them in combat yet and they just might not have a very effective espionage division. They did manage to take down the Pact's scouting team after all so they at least know their way around space combat," replied her partner from the seat next to her.

"True," conceded Gabriel with a nod to her companion

The Inquisitor then frowned as they entered Shanxi's orbit and their infiltration vehicle shuddered as it encountered turbulence from the planet's atmosphere. To any observers that happened to look up at that moment all they would have seen a strange distortion in the sky as the duo's shuttle landed silently. Unstrapping herself from the pilot seat she turned to her partner whom did the same before they both donned skintight armour.

"I hate these damn stealth armours. Give me my thick battle suit, at least that an actually take some punishment unlike this piece of crap," grumbled the Inquisitor.

"This is a stealth mission and marching in with Crusader armour is not the ideal means to infiltrate a city," replied her partner, crisply.

"I don't see why our Lord sought the need to have you accompany me. I can do this job by myself with my eyes closed, there is no need for you to even be here," scoffed Gabriel as she prepped her weapons.

Her partner just shrugged, "who knows? Maybe the High Lord Inquisitor has doubt about your abilities… or your loyalty? Not surprising since you were nothing more than a street rat before he picked you up, we'd be fools to trust you with a missi-"

She never finished her sentence as Gabriel's hands clamped around her throat, both glowing a biotic blue as she lifted up her partner off the ground. Gabriel brought her companion up to her Caucasian face and saw her partner flinch under her gaze before turning blue from a lack of oxygen.

"Let me get something straight Miranda," snarled Gabriel. "I could take these insults about my skills; after all it's only natural for a weakling like you to be jealous. However, if you ever question my loyalty and devotion to our Lord again. Then I will see to it you and your dear sister are labelled heretics and hunted down as the dogs you are! Do I make myself clear?!"

Miranda just nodded and gasped as the hands around her throat disappeared, her face returning to its normal natural hue as oxygen returned to her. As Gabriel turned away from her, Miranda saw the incriminating mark burned onto her companion's hand, making the devotee's blood boil. Burned on Gabriel's hand was a skull with a _H_ embedded on its forehead and below the skull the words _haereticus _were written.

Once she was sure Gabriel was out of hearing range Miranda scowled, "why would our Lord chose to help the child of heretics? And induct them into Cerberus of all places?"

As she grabbed her weapons Miranda's scowl deepened before a cold smile spread across her face, "once a heretic always a heretic. Make one wrong move Gabriel and I will be ready to send you to whatever hell your parents are in. The glory would be immense; I would become his top agent, an instrument of his will, after all how many other Inquisitors can say they've killed the daughter of the 'Heroes of Elysium.'"

Walking out of their infiltration ship Miranda saw Gabriel looking through her scope at something in the distance. Joining her at the edge of their landing site Miranda pulled out her rifle to see what had caught her companion's attention and saw a crashed xenos transport of some kind. It must have belonged to the xenos attacking Shanxi since it clearly wasn't a Supremacy ship of any kind that she recognized.

"Let's go," ordered Gabriel as she headed towards the grounded xeno's ship.

"Our orders are to infiltrate Shanxi's capital not study xenos," argued Miranda.

"And we shall," replied Gabriel before pointing in the distance.

Frowning Miranda followed her direction with her scope and immediately saw a rapidly approaching Supremacy Redeemer heading towards the crash site. Blinking in surprise she nodded to her companion and they both headed to the crash site, their forms becoming indistinguishable from their environments as their cloaking field activated.

* * *

Numlius groaned as he groggily got to his feet and coughed as smoke entered his lungs, 'wait, smoke?' The Turian paused as memories of the past few hours caught up to him and immediately he began panicking as he spotted Tiso lying motionless next to him. Rushing over to his teammate Numlius breathed a sigh of relief as he saw his friend's chest rising and lowering in a slow rhythmic movement.

Throwing Tiso over his shoulder Numlius sent a warp at the bent door and grinned, as it swung open before he exited the burning wreck. Laying his friend on the ground Numlius looked back to the crashed ship and groaned as he ran back in and headed for the cockpit, the smoke now completely engulfing the inside of the wreck.

By the time he finally found the pilot, Numlius was feeling weak and light headed as he dragged his fellow Turian out of the smoking ship. Once he was out Numlius simply collapsed to the ground in exhaustion and had to fight to keep himself conscious, only now beginning to notice the numerous wounds on his body.

Hearing an odd noise getting louder the Turian forced himself to his feet and dragged his two fellow Turians behind cover before hiding himself as an unfortunately familiar shape rapidly began growing in the distance. The Cabal just sighed as he drew his pistol and activated his omni-blade, having lost all his other weapons in the mad rush to the gunship or in the crash itself, and prayed to the Spirits that they weren't heading his way.

Unfortunately, the recognizable shape of one synthetic's hover cars only grew larger, making it quite clear that it was heading towards the crashed. 'Of course they are, damn synthetics won't stop until they wipe out all organic races,' cursed the Turian as the hover car came to stop in front of the crashed gunship.

Numlius watched with fascination as the back of the hover car opened up and turned into a ramp as four Asari like synthetics emerge from with it before heading over to the crash. 'Odd are they some kind of drones? Workers or salvagers maybe? They don't appear to be as heavily armed or armoured but there's something about them that doesn't seem right,' frowned the Cabal.

As he observed them examining and searching the wreck Numlius realized exactly what it was about these types of synthetics that seemed wrong, it was the way they moved. Every synthetic whether they were simply a mech or a Geth platform had the same kind of stiff robotic movement, even the battle models that this group had sent against him still had this trait. So why didn't these ones? Their movements were simply too fluid, too imperfect, too _organic_, to be a regular synthetic.

The Turian couldn't ponder this for much longer as he felt something placing a hand on his back, eyes widening the Cabal member slowly turned around only to see…nothing. Numlius frowned he was sure he had felt something touching his back, even his instincts were screaming that he was being watched. Giving his surroundings one last glance he turned his attention back to the odd synthetics and the moment he did he clearly felt something push him from his hiding spot and sending the Cabal stumbling to the ground.

Cursing himself for not trusting his instincts, he quickly pushed himself up from the ground as the four Asari synthetics noticed him and surrounded the Cabal. They all leveled their orange glowing weapons at him while Numlius did the same with his pistol and omni-tool. Remembering his previous encounter with the synthetics, he sent a warp into one of his opponent only to curse as he saw it be knocked back with a dent in its armour before getting back to its feet.

'Biotics aren't as effective against these ones. Guess I'll settle this the old fashioned way,' thought Numlius as he fired his pistol at the damaged synthetic only to gasp as the rounds bounced off a familiar shield. 'They have kinetic barriers! But why? The other combat models didn't yet these types that aren't even built for combat do,' he raged as he dodged the orange lasers fired in retaliation.

Having no other option the Cabal growled as he Biotically charged the damaged one, knocking it to ground again and denting its armour further before he stabbed the omni-blade into its chest, hoping he pieced its power core. He smiled as the synthetic stopped moving before a worryingly familiar red liquid began pouring out of its chest.

Before he could react Numlius heard the other three synthetics cry out in what almost seemed to be rage as the opened fire again. This time the Turian wasn't fast enough to dodge all of the lasers and cried out as he was hit in the leg, tumbling to the ground. Instantly the three synthetics were on top of him as one of the pulled out what looked like an advanced Taser that was sometimes used by C-Sec.

Realizing what was about to happen Numlius struggled to escape his captor's grasp, reactivated his omni-blade, and slashed at one of the synthetic's head. The one hit gave a very non-synthetic cry of pain as it let go, allowing Numlius to stab the other in the head as it went limp.

Getting up from the ground he turned, ready to kill the damaged synthetic only to freeze as he saw it grasp its head. It then shocked Numlius again as it took off what he now realized was a helmet, to reveal a heavily augmented and damaged face but none the less quite clearly not a synthetic one.

"You're organics?" he muttered in shock.

Suddenly intense pain flooded his body as ever nerve felt like they were tearing themselves apart before Numlius caught a glimpse of the Taser sticking into his exposed neck and everything went dark.

From the nearby cover two invisible spectators watched as the two remaining Pact Apostles collected the bodies of their two comrades before tying up the three xenos and placing in the back of the Redeemer.

"Was that really necessary? The Xeno was going to be discovered anyway," sighed Miranda.

"True but if he managed to ambush those Apostles then we would have lost our ride into the capital. That aside it looks like you were right about them. That Xeno fought pretty well despite being wounded and caught by surprise," explained Gabriel.

"Any animal will fight like that when it has been back into a corner," scoffed her partner, clearly unimpressed.

"True, well shall we hitch a ride?" laughed Gabriel.

The two of them quietly snuck into the Redeemer as the ramp began closing, checking to make sure the two Apostles were preoccupied with the controls they Biotically lifted each other until they touched the vehicle roof. Grabbing onto any handholds they could find to entangled themselves with they settled in for the trip back, using the occasionally Lift when their arms needed a rest.

As the Redeemer finally came to a stop the two surviving Apostles opened the hatch and dragged the unconscious xenos out before doing the same to their companion's bodies. After that the ramp shut behind them and the Cerberus agents dropped down to the floor.

"Well looks like this is our stop," remarked the Inquisitor.

Miranda nodded before she activated her omni-tool, "according to the data from the Lord Inquisitor the Shanxi gate should be hidden beneath the main compound."

"Good it's time to start this war off with a bang," smirked Gabriel as they both disappeared into the shadows.

* * *

**Purity Homeworld-Keplar**

High Lord Inquisitor and leader of the Cerberus forces Jack Harper was considered an odd man in the Purity Legion, seconded only to the High Priestess herself, his word was law and undeniable. Nevertheless, despite this he had a reputation for unorthodox decisions and methods that had made him hated by both heretics and Church officials alike.

His pardoning and accepting of a heretic into his organization as merely the tip of the iceberg and not just any heretic but the child of the 'Heroes of Elysium' themselves. The two that lead the most successful rebellion in the Legion's history, even managing to convince numerous other worlds to join them.

Secretly the Legion enjoy a minor revolt every now and then, it kept the troops sharp and the Church feared and so at first they didn't pay it much interest. This soon proved to be more dangerous than the Church officials had expected as this small revolt turned into a full-blown rebellion, it was organized, it was well equipped and it was growing.

As they finally began realizing the potential danger to them, especially if the other factions of the Affinity Alliance found out, the Church ordered Harper to quell it immediately. He was given the third and fifth fleet to accomplish the task, less than half of what the rebels had commandeered by this stage.

It was a suicide mission and everyone knew it, a delaying tactic until the real force could be mobilized, it should have been over in a matter of months and it was, with the rebels defeat. Much to the shock of the entire Legion, Harper managed to defeat his opponents repeatedly through his cunning and unorthodox tactics and his newly minted Cerberus commandos.

If there was a certain rebel leader that was proven to be an annoyance then he was found dead the next day, if a building needed to be taken down before the main assault then it was done, if a ship was too valuable to destroy it was captured. Time and again his new Cerberus commandos proved their worth to the point that even mentioning they were in the area was often enough to get rebels to surrender.

One the final battle on Elysium though the Cerberus commandos finally met their match in the form of two former Enforcers, the 'Heroes of Elysium.' After months of failing to take the last rebel held stronghold Harper had had enough and sent in Cerberus. They were tasked with detonating the Thorium Reactor destroying the last rebel stronghold and killing millions. They didn't even make into the city before they were killed by the rebellion scions, the 'Heroes of Elysium.'

Impressed with them Harper offered to protect them from the Church's wraith if they would renounce the rebels, much to the shock of the Church who tried to convince him otherwise. The two disagreed and they were about to go back to fighting when Harper made another offer that was much simpler. Turn themselves in and he wouldn't bombard the city from orbit.

It didn't take long for them to agree and so the 'Heroes of Elysium' were 'tried' and executed, without their leaders the rebellion devolved into scattered pockets of resistance. In recognition of his actions, Harper was given the rank High Lord Inquisitor and his Cerberus organization was made the official special forces of the Church and tasked with hunting down the remnants of the rebellion and other heretics.

To this day no one can figure out just where the rebels got their hands on that much equipment or how they were able to be so organized. All that is agreed upon was that this was when Jack Harper gained absolute control of the Legion.

'And yet despite my position even I can't avoid politics, how tiresome,' sighed Harper as he removed the cigar from his mouth and watched representative Udina in front of him.

"Don't worry Udina I've sent two of my Cerberus Inquisitors, they'll see your mission done. Although I must say I do not believe this is a good idea," he reassured him.

"Why? This way those Pact monstrosities won't try to restrain us when we go on the offensive, after all don't forget what those filthy Protheans did to our race," replied Udina.

"I agree and I can't wait to lead the 9th Crusade against these Xeno scum, this day has a long time coming," replied Harper as a predatory grin spread across his face, only for it to drop quickly as he glared the politician.

"However, I didn't need this mission in order to do that. The Pact would have acted horrified at our actions but in reality they wouldn't care since they were attacked first. Which is why I am against this plan, it weakens the Pact's forces too much, which we might need in the upcoming wars, plus Shanxi was a good staging ground for our invasion. Not to mention, if they ever find out about this then we will likely have to fight a civil war against both the Collective and the Pact," replied Harper coldly.

"That sounds like the talk of a heretic and heathen Harper, I would advise you watch your tongue," growled Udina as a hint a fanaticism began seeping through his politician's mask.

Harper growled as his armoured form stood up and dwarfed over the politician, a Biotic blue aura surrounding him as numerous objects began lifting off the ground, including Udina himself. "DO NOT INSULT MY LOYALTY BOY!" he roared.

Udina soon found himself staring into the eyes of the Lord Inquisitor and head to stop himself from ruining his suit, "I hate those monsters and Xeno loving scum just as much as you. However, unlike most of the Church, I realize the need for them!" he spat as he dropped the politician.

"Humanity is a great race and the Purity Legion is the embodiment of that greatness, and I intend to see to it that this great Empire thrives for thousands of years after my death. Even if that means we must ally with heretics, heathens and even xenos if necessary," replied Harper calming down slightly as he walked over to the collapsed Udina.

"That is what Cerberus is Udina, we dabble in heresies and the heretical, we are the necessary evil to ensure our survival. The Reapers are coming Udina and we're not ready, Shanxi is proof of that and yet despite this you think the best method is to weaken our allies' strength," he growled as looked down on the politician below him.

"There is nothing you can do, this order came from the High Priestess herself," replied Udina in a hurry.

"Oh I'm aware, however that little girl is far too innocent and not nearly clever enough to think up a plan like this," nodded Harper before he picked Udina by the throat. "So tell me Udina who put her up to this?"

The politician couldn't look away as Harper gave a predator grin, "because it looks like it's time for Cerberus to clean house again."

* * *

**Codex:**

**Cerberus:** Not much is known about Cerberus even within the Affinity Alliance as the Purity Legion is very protective of that information. What is known is that they serve as both the Church's elite commandos as well as inquisitors and are under the direct command of High Lord Inquisitor Jack Harper.

**High Lord Inquisitor:** One of the highest rankings in the Purity Legion and below only the High Priest/Priestess themselves. Due to the High Priest/Priestess' isolation from the public this position is often considered to be the most influential in the Legion.

**High Priest/Priestess:** The position of the highest authority in the Purity Legion, their word is law and without question. The location and identity of the current one are known to only a few high Church officials.

**Enforcers: **The collective name given to all factions of the Purity Legion's military who have disgraced themselves in some way and were delegated to mere law enforcement. This disgrace can be as minor as low scores upon graduating military academies or even as major as suspected heresy. It is possible for Enforcer to eventually join the proper military provide they should the require skill and are deemed clean of heretical thoughts.

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**Okay so why did I write Harper like this? Because in the games he does want the best for humanity and is willing to do whatever it takes and what methods he can to achieve this. So I just thought how this mind set would evolve in a fanatical cult like setting. He's actually really fun to write now that I think about it. **

**There is a poll on my profile to see which faction you'd want to see fight first so be sure to go over and vote one what you want.**


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